This invention relates to a system for projecting a flow of rain water away from a building.
Buildings often include an eaves trough system to collect rain water from the roof and direct the water down a plurality of downspouts. The downspouts are normally located along the walls of a dwelling and have downspout elbows at their bases. The downspout elbows at the lower end of downspouts are meant to direct water away from the foundation of the building.
The primary purpose of an eaves trough system is to protect the perimeter foundation of the building from water damage. Therefore, it is important that the water drained from the roof of the building be directed to a location that is a sufficient distance from the base of the foundation.
Various forms of horizontal extensions for conveying rain water away from a building foundation are available. These extensions generally consist of a pipe or a large plastic column that is attached to and stretched out from the downspout. These systems are low pressure systems or gravity systems, whereby no substantial pressure head is generated in the system. They are merely used to distribute water in a small area immediately surrounding the extension portion.
Examples to these low pressure systems are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,814,529 and 3,966,121. These devices disclose low pressure downspout extensions with a plurality of holes located in the tubing to permit water to be distributed in the immediate area.
A downspout distributor is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,904,121. This distributor is designed to minimize the discharge water pressure and distribute the water in a manner which eliminates water erosion in the lawn near the outlet of a downspout. This system uses small apertures located on the downspout to spray the immediate surrounding area. In addition, this system uses hose coupling openings at the sides of the downspout elbow. These are used to attach soaker hoses for light distribution of the rain water. This type of system is unsatisfactory because it is designed to work at slight pressure.
These prior art systems are all based on low pressure distribution of rain water run-off from a roof of a dwelling or similar structure. These prior art systems would not be capable of shooting rain water any significant distance from a building.
A high pressure discharging system is described by Roles in U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,775. Roles discloses a vertical downspout having a small diameter discharge outlet at its lower end. The downspout accumulates a head of water so that the water that is discharged from a downspout outlet is discharged at a high pressure. In the Roles system the downspout outlet is small in diameter so that water can accumulate in the down spout to create hydrostatic pressure.
None of these prior art systems provide a system that will consistently discharge water at a high pressure so that water can be projected over a significant distance. Further, none of these prior art systems provide a system that will consistently discharge water at a high pressure and that will clear debris from the system. The invention downspout provides a means for projecting water away from a building by a significant distance. The invention downspout system operates intermittently. When the invention downspout system is discharging water, water is discharged at a high velocity and can be projected a significant distance away from a building.
The present invention is a rain water downspout for shooting water away from a building. It includes a vertical downspout column for receiving and holding rainwater. The downspout column has an outlet at its lower end. A buoyant column inside the downspout column rests on the bottom of the downspout column and blocks the downspout column outlet until the downspout column fills with enough water to cause the buoyant column to float. A nozzle is attached to the downspout outlet. The nozzle includes a valve that allows water to pass through the nozzle at a pressure. The nozzle can be oriented to shoot a stream of water away from the building. When the buoyant column inside the downspout rises, water flows out of the downspout column under pressure and opens the valve in the nozzle. The water then passes though the nozzle and shoots away from the building. When the buoyant column descends and blocks the downspout column outlet, pressure in the nozzle falls and the valve in the nozzle closes to shut off the flow of water from the nozzle. A spring may be added to the upper end of the downspout column for engaging the buoyant column and forcing it back down the bottom of the downspout column. The nozzle may be fashioned from a flexible material and may have internal structures that only open under pressure. The nozzle may also have a bent shape that only straightens under sufficient pressure. The nozzle may also have an expanding portion that can fill with water and then expel water with even greater force to clear debris from the system.